In Serie A there is still too little playing: effective time must be introduced

Ten minutes and 39 seconds. Of football played, not of permanence on the pitch. It’s the difference between two matches in the same championship, our Serie A, on the same day, the last one. Sampdoria and Inter fought for the ball or kept control of it for 60 minutes and 20 seconds, almost a record, while Verona and Salernitana only did it for 49 minutes and 41 seconds: the rest of the time passed between assorted breaks , substitutions, obstructions, expectations from the Var and chats between the referee and the players. In short, the Bentegodi challenge actually lasted 17.7% less than that of Marassi. A huge amount. They weren’t even two different sports.

Between these two extremes are the other eight games of the week, well spread out over time: four between 50 and 55 minutes of effective play, four between 55 and 60. Sunday was the turn of Thiago Motta, coach of Bologna , in resolving the issue: “There are too many players who “faint”, roll on the ground, only to get up and start running again. They try to deceive, create confusion and are rewarded”. It’s a pity that it’s always those who lose, or don’t win, a game to win, who complain about the obstructionism of the others, but it’s true that Bologna-Monza was only played for 51’03”, in second place in the day’s standings at the time lost. While the second in terms of actual duration was Lazio-Atalanta, 59’45”, and it certainly isn’t a coincidence that it was the best match, followed by Sampdoria-Inter.

The issue of obstructionism is certainly nothing new, but that of the real difference in duration between one game and another is. It is interesting to observe how a total of 8’48” of recovery were assigned in Verona-Salernitana and 8’46” in Bologna-Monza, while in Sampdoria-Inter 6’45” and in Lazio-Atalanta 7’56”. That is: despite playing almost or more than ten minutes less, the difference in the extra-time granted was in one case less than a minute and in the other just two minutes.

It is evident that the recovery as the referees are used to conceiving it, calculating the time lost due to replacements or entry into the field of health care in a conventional measure and the stops from Var in spanometric measure, no longer works. It is above all the Var that makes the difference: before its introduction, Serie A matches lasted on average around 57 minutes, now around 54′. We stop not only for revisions on the monitor, but also and above all while waiting for communications from the director. The so-called semi-automatic offside itself has increased the accuracy of the check, but for now it hasn’t reduced expectations. The problem exists and Fifa has also noticed it. Who in fact at the World Cup had asked the referees to lengthen the recoveries. However, arousing much controversy due to the excess of discretion. The goal had been partially achieved because in Qatar the races had an effective average duration of 58’04”, compared to less than 55 minutes in the various national championships. But the means have not convinced almost anyone.

All this leads to an inevitable conclusion: the solution is the introduction of effective time. A recent market research revealed that 62% of Italian fans would be in favour. Thirty minutes of play per half. With a lot of greetings to obstructionists and simulators.